Colorado County Federal Sav. & Loan Asso. v. Commissioner

36 T.C. 1167, 1961 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 64
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedSeptember 29, 1961
DocketDocket No. 77536
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 36 T.C. 1167 (Colorado County Federal Sav. & Loan Asso. v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Colorado County Federal Sav. & Loan Asso. v. Commissioner, 36 T.C. 1167, 1961 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 64 (tax 1961).

Opinion

OPINION.

Black, Judge:

The Commissioner has determined deficiencies in petitioner’s income tax for the years 1954 and 1955 in the amounts of $2,783.18 and $2,942.32, respectively. The deficiencies for 1954 and 1955 are due to one adjustment made by the Commissioner which is explained in the deficiency notice as follows:

(a) For the years 1954 and 1955 you realized taxable income, before deduction, for bad debts in the amounts of $9,763.04 and $10,06'2.97, respectively. Since no portion of these amounts was credited to a reserve for bad debts account, or any other account, established for the sole purpose of absorbing losses, as required by section 593 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 and regulations thereunder, it has been determined no deductions for bad debts are allowable for the year[s] 1954 and 1955 in the respective amounts of $9,763.04 and $10,062.97.

Petitioner contests this adjustment by appropriate assignments of error.

All of the facts have been stipulated and are hereby found as stipulated, including the exhibits which are attached to the stipulation. We shall summarize these facts for the purpose of endeavoring to give a clear understanding of the issue which is to be decided.

Petitioner is a corporation chartered under the laws of the United States of America and its place of business is Columbus, Colorado County, Texas. The income tax returns for the years involved were filed with the district director of internal revenue for the first district of Texas at Austin, Texas.

On petitioner’s 1952, 1954, and 1955 returns it made the following deductions:

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These reserves were not reflected on petitioner’s general books of account. The books of petitioner were examined by the Internal Eevenue Service for the year 1953 and no change was made as to that year. The “Reserve for Tax Purposes” and the “Reserve for Losses— Tax Purposes” set forth in petitioner’s 1954 and 1955 income tax returns, respectively, were on petitioner’s general books of account as a part of surplus and undivided profits.

Petitioner is subject to the rules and regulations of the Federal Home Loan Bank Administration and is under the jurisdiction of its Little Rock, Arkansas, office. Petitioner is a member of and is subject to the regulations governing the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation.

The entries shown in the adjustment column of the balance sheets presented with petitioner’s 1954 and 1955 returns were not shown on petitioner’s general books of account prior to June 30, 1957, nor on any of its published statements.

On May 8,1957, the following resolution was adopted by the board of directors of petitioner:

Whereas, annually there has been a specific reserve for losses claimed as a deduction in the federal income tax returns of the association; and
Whereas, the Board did not formally incorporate in the minutes resolutions setting up such reserves;
Now, Therefore, be it Resolved: That the reserves for losses heretofore claimed, be set up within the contingent reserves of the association for the following years and in the amounts stated, to-wit:
1953_$13, 089. 05
1954_ 9, 763. 04
1955_ 10,115. 93
1956_ 15, 602. 63
for the sole and exclusive purposes of absorbing losses.
And be it further resolved, that as of the close of business of December 31st of each year an appropriate amount be set apart from the earnings of the association for such year for loss reserves, such reserves to be set up with and as a part of the association’s Contingent Reserve.

The parties agree that the year 1953 referred to in the resolution just preceding should be 1952.

On June 30, 1957, a reserve for bad debts was recorded in petitioner’s general ledger. Undivided profits were charged with $48,570.65 and a “Reserve for Bad Debts” was credited witli the same amount. Prior to June 30, 1957, an account entitled “Reserve for Bad Debts” was not carried by petitioner on its general books of account, nor on any of its published statements.

Petitioner is a member of the United States Savings and Loan League. In the files of the secretary-treasurer of petitioner is a bulletin dated December 12,1952, entitled “Special Management Bulletin of the United States Savings and Loan League.” The following is an excerpt from that bulletin:

Pursuant to Section S13 of the Revenue Act of 1951, the exemption of savings and loan associations and cooperative banks, formerly provided for in Section 101 of the Internal Revenue Code, is repealed and all such associations are now subject to the regular federal corporation income tax and surtax effective January 1,1952.
The return * * * should claim deductions for (1) ordinary and necessary business expenses just like any other corporation federal income taxpayer; (2) any dividends declared by the taxpayer and paid or credited during the taxable year to holders of withdrawable accounts, which amounts may be withdrawn on demand (within the taxable year) subject only to the customary notice of intention to withdraw; and (3) amounts determined by the taxpayer to be reasonable additions to a reserve for bad debts and allocated thereto during the taxable year whenever the taxpayer’s “surplus, reserves, and undivided profits” do not exceed 12 percent of withdrawable accounts at the end of the taxable year. The tax regulations just issued recognize any general loss reserve for bad debts to the extent required or permitted by law so that this allocation may be to a federal insurance reserve or any general loss reserve. All excess of earnings after expenses and dividends should be allocated by the under 12 percent associations to the federal insurance reserve or other general loss reserve to the extent permitted and any excess to a bad debt reserve. Any balance of gross income after the above deductions will be subject to ordinary corporation income taxation, which is at the rate of 30% on the first $25,000.00 and 52% on the excess of $25,000.00.

The bulletin continues on page 3:

Commerce Clearing House in their Standard Federal Tax Reporter for 1955 and 1956, commenting editorially in Par. 3480.02 on Section 593 of the 1954 Internal Revenue Code, under the heading, “Additions to Reserve for Bad Debts,” for loan associations etc., states, “However, institutions which use the reserve method for deducting bad debts and which have elected to use the 12% optional or alternative method of computing the deduction, must show, or be able to show, that the amount deducted was in fact credited to a reserve account for bad debts or losses, and not to a surplus or a ‘free’ reserve account, or the deduction will be disallowed, even though the amount would have been deductible if it had been credited to the proper account.”

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Related

Home Sav. & Loan Asso. v. Commissioner
80 T.C. No. 28 (U.S. Tax Court, 1983)
Centralia Federal Sav. & Loan Asso. v. Commissioner
66 T.C. 599 (U.S. Tax Court, 1976)
Annapolis Federal Sav. & Loan Asso. v. Commissioner
1972 T.C. Memo. 243 (U.S. Tax Court, 1972)
Peoples Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. United States
320 F. Supp. 179 (D. South Carolina, 1970)
Leesburg Federal Sav. & Loan Asso. v. Commissioner
55 T.C. 378 (U.S. Tax Court, 1970)
Ohio Pike Sav. & Loan Co. v. Commissioner
55 T.C. 388 (U.S. Tax Court, 1970)
Commercial Sav. & Loan Asso. v. Commissioner
53 T.C. 14 (U.S. Tax Court, 1969)
United-American Sav. & Loan Asso. v. Commissioner
1968 T.C. Memo. 91 (U.S. Tax Court, 1968)
Newport Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. United States
259 F. Supp. 82 (E.D. Arkansas, 1966)
Bolling v. Commissioner
1964 T.C. Memo. 143 (U.S. Tax Court, 1964)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
36 T.C. 1167, 1961 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 64, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/colorado-county-federal-sav-loan-asso-v-commissioner-tax-1961.